Attachment for ladders



March 7, 1950 T, Mm s 2,500,086

ATTACHMENT FOR LADDERS Filed Aug. 19, 1946 v Patented Mar. 7, 1950UNITED STATES a'rENT OFFlCE 2,500,086 ATTACHMENT FOR: LADDERS JackTsMintus, Minneapolis, Minn. Application August 19, 1946, Serial No.691,509.

1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in ladders and more particularly toan attachment for holding a ladder outwardly from the wall of a buildingagainst which it is leaning.

It is well known that when a ladder is leaning directly against abuilding there is not sufficient room between the building and theladder to permit a painter standing on the ladder to manipulate hisbrush and paint, hence it is necessary for the painter to move theladder in order to paint the small space that was covered thereby. Themoving of the ladder of course takes considerably more time than doesthe actual painting.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an attachmentapplicable to a ladder for holding the same outwardly from a building orwall against which it is leaning.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ladder attachment thatcan be folded into an inoperative position in the plane of the ladderwhen not in use.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a ladder attachmentthat will not interfere with the connecting or disconnecting of thesections of an extension ladder.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from. the followingdescription, reference being had to the drawing.

To the above end, generally stated, the invention consists of the noveldevices and combination of devices hereinafter described and defined inthe claim.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the invention, likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view of a ladder having theattachment applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a View partly in side elevation and partly in section taken onthe line 22 of Fig. 1, and also showing, by means of broken lines, theattachment in an inoperative position; and

Figs. 3 and 4.- are fragmentary detail views partly in elevation andpartly in section taken on the lines 33 of Fig. 2, and 3-4 of Fig. 1,respectively, on an enlarged scale.

The numeral 5 indicates the upper end portion of a ladder to which theattachment is applied.

The ladder attachment includes two separate and independent unitsapplied to the longitudinal side bars 6 of the ladder 5. The two unitsare rights and lofts for application to the inner faces of the ba1 s-,6; ,at the upper end portions thereof and above the uppermost rung '1.

Each unit of the attachment includes a flat metal plate 8 havingcounter-sunk holes for screws 9 that attach said plate to the ladderbars 5. An arm H1 is pivoted at one of its end portions to a long screwit that extends through a bore in the respective ladder bar it from theouter side thereof and a hole in the arm it]. A conical washer i2 isapplied to the screw 1 I under its head and said washer and headcountersunk in the outer face of the ladder bar 6. A thumb-nut l3 and anovel lock washer H! are applied to the screw II for frictionallyclamping the arm it onto the plate 8. The plate 8 at the transversecenter of its top, is longitudinally out and folded upon itself toafford a keeper bracket it for the arm ill when in an operative positionas shown in Fig. 2. Integral with the washer i4 is an L-shaped finger itthat loosely extends through a transverse hole ll in the arm H] forentrance into either one of two holes l8 and E9 in the plate 8. When thefinger i6 is in the hole 18 it positively locks the arms it in thekeeper bracket l5 and in an operative position.

When not in use the arm l0 may be turned downwardly into an inoperativeposition as shown by broken lines in Fig. In this inoperative positionof the arm ill it is positively held by turning the lock-washer M into aposition in which its finger it; may be inserted in the hole 59.

It may be assumed that the line X in Fig. 2 represents the side of abuilding. When the arms are in operative positions and the ladder 5 putup at the side of a building an arm will engage the same and hold theladder away from the building a sufiicient distance to permit a painterto paint under the ladder 5 without having to move the same.

When the ladder attachment is not in use its arms it may be folded intothe plane of the ladder where they are out of the way and do notinterfere with the assemblying of the sections of an extension ladder orthe separation thereof.

From what has been said, it will be understood that the device describedis capable of modifications as to details of construction andarrangement within the scope of the invention herein disclosed andclaimed.

What I claim is:

A ladder attachment comprising a pair of rectangular anchor plateshaving means for attaching the same to the inner faces of the side barsof a ladder in opposing relation, the anchor plates at their upper endportions being longitudinally cut and the upper inner portion thereofoutwardly folded upon said plates to afford keeper brackets, a pair ofbolts adapted to be inserted through bores in the side bars of theladder and holes in the anchor plates, a pair of depending arms pivotedto the bolts for upwardly swinging movement into the keeper bracketsthat afiord stops that positively hold the arms in operative positionsin which they extend inwardly and outwardly of the side bars of theladder, thumb-nuts applied to the bolts, lock washers on the boltsbetween the arms and the thumb-nuts, said lock washers having hooklikefingers that extend through holes in the arms and apertures in theanchor plates for locking the arms to the anchor plates when inoperative positions in the anchor brackets.

JACK T. MINTUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 310,218 Norton et a1. Jan. 6,1885 1,600,572 Bauer Sept. 21, 1926 2,021,017 Ortell Nov. 12, 19352,320,407 Campbell June 1, 1943 2,419,065 Fowler Apr. 15, 1947 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 12,062 Great Britain 1908

